2 dead, 90 displaced in Plainfield, N.J., apartment building fire
Two people were killed and 90 others were left without a home Sunday following a devastating apartment building fire in Plainfield, New Jersey.
Officials and residents said the two victims were parents and that their two children survived.
Here's what witnesses say happened
Flames burst out of a top-floor unit of 308 West Front St. at around 1:15 a.m., police said. Neighbor Shaira Aviles said in Spanish that she woke up from the smell of smoke and immediately evacuated her family, including her 80-year-old grandmother. She added the entire building was filled with smoke.
As people from 24 units escaped outside, Aviles said paramedics put a father and mother into ambulances and tried to save them.
"She was already badly burned," Aviles said.
The building's superintendent said the parents' two children, around the ages of 10 and 12, ran outside with no clothes or shoes.
"There are two kids that were hospitalized as a result of the fire and they were in the same apartment," Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said.
He said the children were later released from the hospital.
Damage could also be seen inside a ground-floor business.
"I'm upset because, you know, we ... they live upstairs and we here all the time and we work seven days a day a week and I feel sorry for the family," said Edwin Ramirez, owner of El Chapin Express.
Arrangements being made to help those displaced
The mayor said some residents may be able to return home as soon as Monday.
The superintendent of the school district wrote to the community, saying, in part, "We are heartbroken," and that come the start of the new week of school, "School counselors, social workers, and other support staff will be available to provide grief counseling."
Mapp said several children are now without a home before the holidays and transportation to school is being arranged.
"The city will do whatever we can, whatever we need to, working with the school district to make sure that these kids receive continue to receive the education that they are entitled to," Mapp said.
The Red Cross is providing temporary shelter inside the Plainfield Performing Arts Center.
"We have about 38 people who will be sleeping here tonight, unless they get, you know, picked up by family members or friends," said Sheri Ferreira, communications manager for the Red Cross. "So we'll be here through the morning and we're prepared to stay as long as possible."